Bachelor Nation’s Carly Waddell revealed she was ‘not a fan’ of her former classmate Lady Gaga, who briefly attended New York University before dropping out to pursue a career in music.
While recalling her time studying at Tisch School of the Arts’s CAP21 program with the 13-time Grammy winner, on Jason Tartick’s Trading Secrets podcast, the reality star, 38, opened up about knowing the 37-year-old pop star as Stefani, before she adopted her now-iconic stage name.
When asked what the Shallow hitmaker, 37, was like in class, the mother-of-two said they didn’t get along because during lunch she would play on the piano ‘every single day’ and just ‘play and sing Wicked at the top of her lungs.’
‘We were all forced to listen to her,’ Waddell complained. ‘Yes, was she good? Of course! She’s great, but I just wanted to eat my sandwich.’
Looking back: Bachelor Nation’s Carly Waddell revealed she was ‘not a fan’ of her former classmate Lady Gaga (seen above in 2022), who briefly attended New York University before dropping out to pursue a career in music
To escape Gaga’s singing, Waddell said she would ‘just eat in the hallway’ because the noise was driving her ‘crazy.’
Tartick replied: ‘She’s kind of if you like compare it to people back home, that are like working in an office setting, or, like, maybe I don’t know, they’re a nurse or a teacher it’s like that person who’s just like so extra.’
Waddell agreed, before nothing that her former classmate would wear ‘really tight leotards and she had really big boobs back then and and her boobs’ were always ‘coming out.’
Despite becoming one of the greatest artists of this generation, Waddell insisted that she was not, at the time, noticeably any more talented than their peers.
‘She was she was one of the good ones,’ she explained. ‘But, I would never be like, she was so above.’
‘But now she’s so above all right,’ the TV personality admitted.
Waddell went on to clarify that while she was not a ‘fan of her at the moment,’ she does like her music, but they’ve never talked since.
Tartick went on to suggest that they reunite and collaborate on a song together.
Frustrating: When asked what the Shallow hitmaker, 37, was like in class, the mother-of-two said they didn’t get along because during lunch she would play on the piano ‘every single day’ and just ‘play and sing Wicked at the top of her lungs’
‘We were all forced to listen to her,’ Waddell complained. ‘Yes, was she good? Of course! She’s great, but I just wanted to eat my sandwich’
Memories: To escape Gaga’s singing, Waddell said she would ‘just eat in the hallway’ because the noise was driving her ‘crazy’
Waddell did not, however, mention or speak about the bullying that Gaga faced during her time in the program.
At the start of her career, before becoming ‘Lady Gaga,’ her haters made a Facebook group named ‘Stefani Germanotta, you’ll never be famous.’
In the group’s profile picture, fresh-faced Gaga, who’s real name is Stefani Germanotta, is seen smiling in the snap, while a black cross is drawn across her.
Previously, Gaga told People that she was ‘made fun of for having big dreams’ throughout her ‘high school years.’
Gaga’s mother Cynthia Germanotta told Hello! Magazine in 2021 that her ‘oldest daughter Stefani began struggling with mental health challenges, including depression and anxiety, at a young age.’
‘These issues – that she still admits are part of her journey – were largely a result of the unkindness and bullying she faced from her peers because of her uniqueness,’ she stated.
Cynthia went on to explain the Oscar winner noticed an ‘absence of kindness and sense of understanding’, which would have helped her during ‘the very important development period of middle school.’
Proving her tormentors wrong, Gaga used her experiences to connect with fans through the Born This Way foundation, a non-profit organization which supports the wellness of young people.
Cruel: Waddell did not, however, mention or speak about the bullying that Gaga faced during her time in the program, including a group of her haters creating a Facebook group named ‘Stefani Germanotta, you’ll never be famous’
Bullying victim: Previously, Gaga told People that she was ‘made fun of for having big dreams’ throughout her ‘high school years’ (pictured in 2012)
A former student of the exclusive high school, Convent Of The Sacred Heart, the Stupid Love songstress counted none other than socialite Nicky Hilton as one of her classmates.
Cynthia previously told NBC’s Today Show how Gaga’s depression started as early as middle school, when the future star began getting bullied by her peers – but it took a while for her family to understand.
She said: ‘I knew some of it, but there’s some of it that she didn’t share because she was either embarrassed or afraid to tell me, and that was a little hard to hear.
A long road: Gaga’s mother Cynthia Germanotta told Hello! Magazine in 2021 that her ‘oldest daughter Stefani began struggling with mental health challenges, including depression and anxiety, at a young age’
Beloved: In addition to winning 13 Grammy Awards, she has earned an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award (seen in 2022)
Things became to get worse as Gaga got older and came into her own.
‘In middle school, because she was unique, she started experiencing a lot of struggles. You know, feeling isolated from events, humiliated, taunted. And that’s when she developed depression,’ her mom said.
Cynthia said she regretted not recognizing the signs of what her child was going through at the time.
‘We tried our best as parents to help her, but [we] didn’t know everything,’ she said. ‘I felt where I made mistakes was I didn’t really know the warning signs to look for.’
